Modern glues are finding more and more do-it-yourself uses in auto repair-especially on my car.

With most Americans keeping their cars longer, there may be places on yours where a little dab will do ya.

Leaks are a fine example. Replacing the spongy rubber seal around a door is expensive and your vehicle is tied up for a day or two. But the right glue may let you repair a leak in minutes.

For example, I recently noticed a monsoon coming through the rear hatch of my 11-year-old econocar. So I stopped by my garage.

Replacing the hatch seal was unnecessary, said the service manager, yanking out a tube of black silicone sealer. Then he had an employee cram the silicone into a spot where the rubber seal had pulled away from the car.

I waited half an hour while the stuff dried to the touch. I drove off with four of the rarest words in car service ringing in my ears: ``Forget it, no charge.``

And the hatch hasn`t leaked since. Silicone sealers also come in clear versions, ideal for fixing seals around glass.

Take my car`s vent windows. They were destined to leak wind noise. Up to a certain mileage, the carmaker paid half the cost of replacing them because the latches kept loosening.

Yet even after repairs, years of driving loosened them again, and back came the noise. But the clear silicone dried invisibly, leaving only peace and quiet.

Another special glue is in kits for repairing tiny stone chips in windshields. For $5 to $8, they make a chip almost disappear.

Other useful adhesives include sticky tape for attaching body-side molding; a fast-drying gel glue, equivalent to a non-runny Super Glue, for re- attaching emblems and trim; and upholstery glues.

Years ago, auto glues had containers that scolded ``For Professional Use Only.`` Now gluemakers seek do-it-yourselfers.

``Most of our new adhesives are just smaller packages of what we`ve sold to body shops for years,`` says Bill Hettling, of the 3M Do-it-Yourself Division.